Igor is a passionate entrepreneur and has successfully scaled Mobify from three people working in a tiny Vancouver apartment to the global leader in mobile commerce it is now. Read on for Igor’s top productivity and email tips, and why he always starts his day in a coffee shop.

What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?

I wake up and then I take a shower. I meditate for a few minutes and then I head out to my local coffee shop to grab a coffee and get started on my agenda for the day, as well as clear my inbox and write a few emails. I really enjoy having this in-between space that’s not home, yet not yet office where I can start approaching the highest priority goals.

What’s your number one productivity/time-saving tip?

Well, SaneBox I think is a great help. I think back on the days I didn’t have tool thing like that, and I just had a full inbox of spam every day – I think that was a big time-suck. I think what really helps me is prioritization of what is fully important, and trying to tackle it in the morning or on the weekend. Being able to focus on work outside of hours and put in the important strategic pieces into place is really important.

What’s your definition of productivity?

It’s achieving desired outcomes of scale.

How often do you check your inbox?

What’s your #1 email tip?

Something I’m striving towards right now is trying to respond to most emails right away, and I think it’s a big improvement on my old school way of dealing with emails where I just read them, thought about them for a while, and then responded. For most emails, it’s much more efficient to spend ten or fifteen seconds right away on your response, and then it’s out of your mind until the next email.

What have you become better at saying no to?

Things that I can delegate to great people who can succeed with those tasks. Sometimes, you might be asked to do something that you’re good at, and you could, but somebody else could use that opportunity to deliver the same result and advance in their career. So I am trying to delegate things that can be delegated quite aggressively, so I can focus on how do I add parts of my job that I really have to spend a lot of time on and that I am accountable for 2019.

Do you have a pre-bed/nightly routine?

Yes. So, I don’t have my phone in my bedroom. I have to completely get rid of all screens 30-45 minutes before I have to go to sleep, and just spend some time with a book or just engaging with my partner, my family, and not focusing too much on the to-dos. It helps me sleep better and feel much fresher in the morning.

What have you learned from your failures? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?

Favorite failure? Gee, I think it’s absolutely inevitable part of growth and I’ve learned to anticipate a certain percentage of failures, no matter what I do or our team does. I don’t let it phase me. In the early days of my career, you kind of wanted to get to the equilibrium where things would be alright all of the time, and you realize with experience it’s never going to be the end stage even if you’re amazingly successful with your business.

In the last 5 years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

Meditation. I think taking time for introspection of both how I operate individually and as part of the team and using that time to unplug is a huge help. Focusing on what happens day to day versus always chasing the shiny ball, the next big deal, the next marketing piece. I think focusing inwards can sometimes unlock amazing resources and that definitely increase our resilience for what’s ahead.

What is the most worthwhile investment in time, money, or energy that you’ve made?

I think reading high-quality books and exercise is just about the same in value per minute spent. It’s amazing how far 20 minutes of yoga can take you for your energy for the day and the same goes for 20 minutes reading an amazing book.

What have the last 12 months taught you?

I think it taught me to bet on big waves in the market because it really makes growth so much easier than not being efficient enough and not looking to do a big thing. In our market, we’ve seen a big explosion in demand for progressive web apps, which is our platform and it’s a really big change in how businesses operate. But it’s also driving our value through what we make and our system. So, I think making big bets, but having the patience to see them through is probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned over the last twelve months.

What’s one life hack you can share?

Stick to only one coffee a day.

What’s one key ingredient to work-life balance?

Oh, sleep. One hundred percent. I used to push myself really hard years ago and try to be that guy who gets up at 5 am every day and I was getting headaches, I was sleepy at 2 o’clock and I just said “You know what? I’m gonna follow Jeff Bezos’ principle and just let myself sleep.” I’ve been so much happier ever since and I still work long hours, but I sleep for as long as I want to and I think that really enabled me to go the distance.